Wanting a world record under your name is one of the most universal human urges. Everyone would like to be known as the best in the world at something, no matter how innocuous that thing is. From balancing spoons on your body to the heaviest car balanced on your head, there is an urge within all of us that will inspire us to embarrass, humiliate or push ourselves to our limits in the pursuit of fame.
The catch to attempting world records is that, like balancing spoons on your body, why would you want to do this? However, throw food into the mix and you’ve got world records that are just waiting to be taken.
This is what the focus of Amica International’s latest content project is. They’ve found 9 of the craziest food challenges in the world and the owners of these prestigious titles. Do you think you could beat any of the records below?
Epic Kale – Gideon Oji
Remember kale? Kale is a kind of cabbage that’s healthier for you than actual cabbage and for some reason this was enough to start a whole cultural moment. Kale peaked when actual Beyoncé wore a sweatshirt with words ‘KALE’ emblazoned on it in a music video she shot herself on her iPhone. People spend their whole lives looking to be consigned by someone that famous and somehow kale did it by being cabbage that’s not like cabbage but definitely is just cabbage.
Gideon Oji set the kale word record by eating FOUR HUNDRED AND EIGHT ounces of the stuff. That’s the same weight as a dachshund. Or two cats. Or a small child.
Hot Dog King of the World – Joey ‘Jaws’ Chestnut
When it comes to competitive eating, the most well-known category is hot dog eating. Hot dog eating contests are a staple of American life and is just one of their many great contributions to the global culture. Joey ‘Jaws’ Chestnut is by far the most dominant hot-dog eating champion of the world and set the record when he ate 74 hot dogs in under ten minutes.
He has set over 40 world records in his time. These range from brain tacos to mutton sandwiches to shrimp cocktail to hard-boiled eggs.
Mayo Madness – Oleg Zhornitskiy
Mayonnaise is either the best or worst thing in the world depending in who you ask. No matter what your feelings are on mayo, do you reckon you could beat the world record set by Oleg Zhornitskiy in 2017, who ate 128 ounces of mayonnaise in eight minutes? That’s as heavy as 65 tennis balls or more than twenty snooker balls.
Happy Feaster – Matt Stonie
If you’ve ever played the game fluffy bunnies, then you’ll know how fun it is to stuff your face full of marshmallows. In America, there is a sweet known as Peeps. These are bunny-shaped marshmallow sweets that surface around Easter every year. On ‘Peeps Day 2017’, yes that’s a day devoted to a sweet, Matt Stonie ate 255 Peeps in 5 minutes. So just the 7,000 calories then!
Global Pizza Hero – Kelvin Medina
And now, the eating challenge of kings. It is thought that pizza-like foods have existed since the Neolithic age, which began in around 10,000 BC. That’s something we can wholeheartedly believe. After a long day of hunting your food with a spear, even Neolithic peoples knew that where was nothing better than going back to your cave and rustling up a pie.
This record is one that we’d like to attempt the most. Kelvin Medina of the Philippines ate a 12-inch pizza in 23 seconds. With a knife and fork, too! Unbelievable scenes.
Nettles, Nettles and More Nettles – Alex Williams
Anyone who has come into contact with a stinging nettle has never thought to themselves: I should eat that. This is actually a shame as stinging nettles have been proven to have plenty of health benefits. They contain lots of nutrients, can treat hay fever, help to control blood sugar and can reduce blood pressure. However, there’s just one big barrier in the way of these health benefits. The fact that this is a stinging nettle.
If you’ve never heard of stinging nettles, the clue is in the name. What started as a joke between pub regulars in Dorset has developed into a regular eating challenge and Alex Williams now has the world record for eating 5ft of fresh stinging nettles in one minute.
Brain Food – Takeru Kobayashi
Takeru Kobayashi has a few eating challenges under his belt, but there’s one particularly hair-raising title he has the displeasure of owning that requires the strongest of stomachs. Takeru Kobayashi has the world record for the most cow brains eaten in 15 minutes, putting 57 away. Eating cow brain isn’t as niche as you may think, however.
A fried brain sandwich can be found in parts of the USA including Missouri and Indiana. The Portuguese have a dish lovingly called “eggs ‘n’ brains”. If you were to get a Cabeza Taco in Mexico, that would be a cow brain taco. The more you know.
Breakfast with Legs – Ken Edwards
You might think you’re hard, but you’re not eating 36 live cockroaches for breakfast hard. Ken Edwards of Derbyshire ate 36, yes that’s thirty-six live cockroaches in one minute. We’re not sure how Ken found his penchant for eating live cockroaches, but it turns out he’s mighty good at it. Not sure what else needs to be said about this one other than don’t try this at home. Seriously, having a world record isn’t worth eating THIRTY-SIX live cockroaches. Imagine how many he could eat in ten minutes.
The Butter Man – Don ‘Moses’ Lerman
What did people do with their bread before butter? And did the first person who tasted butter do it on a dare? There are so many questions as to how the spread we now know as butter came into being and popularity, as there are with most of the foods we eat. But there’s one question in particular that we’re interested in.
Enter Don ‘Moses’ Lerman, or as we prefer to call him, The Butter Man. This hero of spreads set the world record for most butter consumed in 5 minutes when he ingested 28 ounces of the stuff. Lerman is quite notorious in the world of competitive eating and has been known to put away baked beans and burgers with no problem either. If you aren’t in one of the three countries that uses the imperial system, 28 ounces is just under a kilogram.
